It is known in the art to provide tilt rigs which have the capability of being used to simulate the effects of acceleration on fluids in powertrain components such as engines and transmissions, as well as other components. Simplified test rigs have commonly been used in engine test cells to simulate constant acceleration effects on engine oil in an operating engine.
Dynamic rigs capable of varying the attitude of an engine or transmission during testing to simulate dynamic acceleration inputs have been developed but are of very large physical size and not readily adaptable for use in the confines of conventional engine test cells. Most such tilt rigs utilize hydraulic power, which is not well adapted to an engine test cell environment because of the lack of centralized hydraulic power in these cells and potential problems with the use of high pressure hydraulics in a high temperature environment where mechanical damage to hydraulic lines is possible.
Development of a more practical dynamic tilt test rig for powertrain apparatus was desired.